The Venue
The wedding of the century took place at West Minster Abbey on Friday the 29th April 2011. The venue is one laced in historic meaning for the Royal Family, as it was the place that William’s Grandmother and Great Grandmother both wed. It was also the place where William bid his last farewells to his mother, Princess Diana. The Abbey is a beautiful church that serves as a house off treasures; with amazing paintings, stained glass, textiles and other artifacts.

The Dress
The gorgeous satin and lace wedding dress worn by Kate on her big day, was designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen’s fashion house. Kate incorporated the best mix of tradition and modernity with her conservative long sleeves and intricate lace detailing. Kate brought even more glamour to her beautifully made dress with a 2.7metre long train, and a veil made of layers of soft, ivory silk which was held in place by a Cartier ‘halo’ tiara, lent to her by The Queen. For the evening dinner reception Kate did a quick dress change into an alternate Sarah Burton dress. The second dress was a white satin and strapless number, with silver diamante embroidery at the waist and a circle skirt. This dress was simple, elegant and perfectly matched with a cropped angora sweater.

The Guest List
Sir Elton John, David and Victoria Beckham, Joss Stone, Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson, photographer Mario Testino, TV presenter Ben Fogle,  and our very own Prime Minister John Key made the cut for the royal wedding guest list. Further to this foreign royalty and sporting greats were invited to celebrate the royal nuptials, including Australian Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe, the King of Swaziland, the King of Tonga, Prince Constantine of Greece, The Queen of Spain and Sheikh Ahmad Hmoud Al-Sabah of Kuwait. It surely was the gathering of royalty from every country and every genre.

The Reception
Following William and Kate’s service, around 600 guests made their way to Buckingham Palace for a lavish reception- with beautiful food and drinks and dancing.

• Guests were served Pol Roger NV Brut Reserve Champagne along with other soft and alcoholic drinks.
• British inspired canapes were made for the reception using British-based ingredients. Some of the exquisite canapes on offer were; Cornish Crab Salad on Lemon Blini, Pressed Duck Terrine with Fruit Chutney, Roulade of Goats Cheese with Caramelised Walnuts, Assortment of Palmiers and Cheese Straws, Scottish Smoked Salmon Rose on Beetroot Blini and a whole lot more
• The official wedding cake was designed by Fiona Cairns and was an astounding 8 tiers high, made of 17 individual fruit cakes.
• Guests were entertained by Prince Charles official harpist, Claire Jones.

The Cars and Carriages

• Kate Middleton arrived in style using the Queen’s vintage Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Landaulette.
• Prince William arrived in the Queens armoured and customised Bentley
• Father of the Groom, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla arrived in his very own Aston Martin DB5
• The happy couple left the church in fairytale style with their 1902 Royal Landau carriage

Food and drinks is the main feature of your wedding dinner, music is a mere supplement and enhancer of the two. If you want to maximize your guest’s appreciation and experience however, you really want to set the right tone and atmosphere with your selection of music.

Music is a background feature that shouldn’t be to overwhelming for the guests. At this time it is key to go for easy listening pieces with a selection of music from different generations. You don’t want to draw any attention to music transitions so an important piece of advice is to have 3 or 4 songs grouped together in their ‘generation’ categories and have them flow onto each generation with ease. This way you are satisfying the tastes of all your guests and not having big jumps between songs.

Take the time to set the mood with your dinner music and make sure to blend the songs together so that they remain as a vital background feature.

Classics

1. Frank Sinatra
2. Dean Martin
3. The Rat Pack

General/Easy Listening

1. Fleetwood Mac – Dreams
2. Counting Crows – Big Yellow Taxi
3. Jack Johnson – Better Together
4. Gwenyth Paltrow – Crusin
5. Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman – Something Stupid
6. Michael Buble
7. Amy Winehouse

Jazzy

1. St Germain
2. Gotan Project
3. Thievery Corporation
4. Buddha Bar

Wedding Collage
Before you go anywhere or do anything, you should make an A4 collage of pictures and images that fit under the heading “My Ideal Wedding”. Include pictures of flowers, dresses, food- anything your heart desires. This collage is the reference point for all ideas and enquiries to follow.

Wedding Planner
With your collage as the first page, section a folder with headings; Venue, Dress, Cake, Decoration etc. Make sure you have lots of room for note taking, and draw side margins so that you can record places and prices easily. This keeps everything organised and will make your life a lot easier the closer you get to the big day.
Set a Budget
Set a ballpark figure for what you are willing to spend on the entire event. From this figure divide expenses between each category in your folder. Remember that if you overspend on one section you must go through your folder and try your best to deduct expenses from other categories. Stay on top of your budget at all times!

Make a Checklist
It is important to produce a checklist of everything that you need to get done, so that you are constantly aware of the progress (or lack there of), you are making. It is hugely rewarding checking tasks off and can be a real motivator to staying focused.

One Step at a Time
You don’t want to tackle everything at once, so strategically plan your schedule so that you focus on one aspect of the wedding at a time. For example you may start with organising flowers and for 2 weeks you spend your time getting quotes, prices and comparing the pros and cons until you can make a definite decision.

In your diary mark out days that you and your partner can dedicate to wedding plans. Consult with friends and family who may like to go along and make them fun days out with coffee and cake testing, dress hunting and dinner etc. If you can make your wedding planning time as eventful as possible, it will make the whole process that much more enjoyable.

The lyrics and the melody both need to be taken into consideration when deciding on the perfect father and daughter dance song.

For most Bride’s simply listening to an array of possible dance songs is enough to help them make a decision, because almost instantly they know when a song is right for this occasion.

A song can hold a lot of meaning, so take care to choose a song that both the father and bride will appreciate.

1. Stevie Wonder - Isn’t She Lovely
2. Bob Carlisle – Butterfly Kisses
3. Temptations – My Girl
4. Stevie Wonder – You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
5. Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett -The Way You Look Tonight
6. Martina McBride – In My Daughters Eyes
7. Luther Vandross – Dance with My Father
8. Billy Joel – Just the way you are
9. Beyonce – Daddy
10. Lee Ann Womack – I Hope You Dance

The music in this case needs to be short and sweet(30 seconds approx) so that the event doesn’t drag on and lose its thrill

1. Beyonce – Single Ladies
2. Aretha Franklin & Eurythmics – Sisters Are Doing It For Themsleves
3. Pussycat Dolls – Dont Cha
4. Christina Aguilera Lil Kim, Mya & Pink - Lady Marmalade
5. Shania Twain – Man I Feel Like a Woman
6. Pat Benatar – Hit Me With Your Best Shot
7. Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
8. Weather Girls – Its Raining Men
9. Beyonce – Run The World
10. Rihanna Only Girl In The World
11. David Guetta – Where Them Girls At
12. Fergie – Labels or Love(Sexy And The City Movie)

Jazzy Funky

Live Music

1. Jazz Bands
2. Acoustic guitarist/vocalist

It is important that the Bride and Groom find a tune that they, and also their guests will be comfortable with.

1. LMFAO – Sexy And I Know It
2. Inner Circle – Bad Boys
3. Tom Jones – Kiss
4. Marvin Gaye – Lets Get It On
5. Yellow – Oh Yeah
6. Hot Chocolate – You Sexy Thing
7. Mission Impossible Theme Song
8. Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman
9. Benny Benassi – Satisfaction
10. Joe Cocker – You Can Leave Your Hat On
11. Queen – Another One Bites The Dust
12. Rod Steward – Do Ya Think Im Sexy
13. Eric Carmen – Hungry Eyes
14. Salt N Pepa – Push It
15. MC Hammer – U Cant Touch This
16. Silk – Freak Me

Personalised Chocolates:Edible favours are always popular with guests, even more so when they are personalised. Print a message, quote or simply “Mr & Mrs …..” on your chocolates and have them at your table seating’s as a favour for your guests to take note of and enjoy.

Decorative Bookmarks:This favour is affordable to mass produce, and can be adapted to fit the personality and desires of the bride and groom. A favourite quote, a small photo and details of the wedding makes for a simple but thoughtful wedding keepsake.

Amongst the exclusive guest list were big names including New Zealand’s Next Top Model host Sara Tetro, All Black Ali Williams and singing sensation Hayley Westenra. They were all dressed to impress as they arrived at their unknown destination. The lakeside Timara Lodge had top notch security in place to ensure that the privacy of the couple’s intimate ceremony was respected.

Details of the ceremony paint a picture of absolute beauty and ideology for the couple. Honor Dillon was ushered across a bridge and grass verge, to reach her destination. She ended her aisle walk next to a beautiful large feather sculpture, a heart-shaped rock and her dashing future husband. Their traditional vows were exchanged in a picturesque setting surrounded by willow trees and a clear lakeside view. Westenra’s harmonious voice led the music at the Ceremony and was matched with hymns spread throughout the 30 minute ceremony.